LEBANON — Bill Duning is a prominent figure here — a longtime attorney, owner of a half-dozen downtown properties, and a supporter of civic causes ranging from old buildings to young people.

        Today he adds “criminal defendant” to his labels, as his trial begins in Warren County Common Pleas Court on felony theft-in-office charges. Mr. Duning, 58, is accused of illegally taking advantage of Lebanon's early-retirement buyout program when he retired from the city at the end of 1999.

        Three others also have been indicted in the buyout scandal, most notably James Patrick, who was pressured into resigning as Lebanon city manager Dec. 3.

        The high-profile case against Mr. Duning has been closely followed in this county's legal community, which is still small enough that most of its members know each other.

        “Nobody wants to see it for the profession, and nobody here wants to see it for Bill,” says Franklin lawyer Patrick Long, who like Mr. Duning counts municipal law among his specialties.

        Some simply don't believe the allegations.

        “Bill's a very upright kind of a guy,” says retired Judge Warren C. Young. “He wouldn't take any money he didn't think he was entitled to.”

        Still, many others think Mr. Duning had no business taking advantage of a benefit meant for electric department employees.

        “I was shocked,” Councilman Ron Pandorf says. “We were led down the path and got tripped in the mud.”

        Mr. Duning represented the city for 27 years in addition to his private practice with the law firm Gray and Duning. He owns several storefronts in Lebanon's historic downtown, and he and his wife, Jane, live on the top floor of another renovated building.

        He did not return a phone call seeking comment for this story.

        He is active in the Lebanon Symphony, the Warren County Historical Society and the YMCA, among other causes, friends say. The Dunings opened their home to 150 guests last month for a Lebanon Conservancy Foundation fund-raiser.

        But his career as well as his freedom are on the line this week. If convicted, Mr. Duning could be jailed for up to five years and could permanently lose his license to practice law.

        Mr. Duning's buyout cost the city $206,000, The buyout of former City Auditor Debbie Biggs, who retired at the same time, cost the city $110,000, but Lebanon has since recovered that money.

        The buyouts, which came to light in January 2000, angered City Council members who said they did not knowingly approve them.

        Mr. Duning's guilt or innocence will be decided by George Elliott, a retired Butler County judge appointed to handle the buyout cases. The trial is expected to take about a week.

        A three-week jury trial is to begin in late January for the other three defendants.

        Mrs. Biggs, like Mr. Duning, has been charged with theft in office and having an unlawful interest in a public contract — both felonies — and misdemeanor conflict of interest.

        Mr. Patrick and retired Electric Department Director Bob Newton — who also took an early-retirement buyout — were indicted on two charges each of aiding and abetting theft in office — also felonies.

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